4.5 from 267 votes
Black Magic Cake
Black Magic Cake is a moist chocolate layer cake made with cocoa powder, strong black coffee, and buttermilk, resulting in a tender crumb and rich flavor profile. The cake batter is thin and produces soft, chocolatey cake layers that benefit from cooling before frosting. Its deep chocolate taste balances slight acidity from the coffee and buttermilk, ideal for diverse frostings like chocolate, buttercream, or cream cheese.
Prep Time
15 mins
Cook Time
35 mins
Additional Time
1 hr
Total Time
1 hr 50 mins
Servings:
10
Course:
Cake
Ingredients
- 2 cups granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cups all-purpose flour
- ¾ cup cocoa powder unsweetened
- 2 teaspoons baking soda
- 1 teaspoon baking powder
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg
- 1 cup buttermilk
- 1 cup strong black coffee cooled, or 2 teaspoons powdered instant coffee dissolved in 1 cup boiling water
- ½ cup vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract pure
Frosting as desired, such as:
- chocolate frosting homemade
- buttercream frosting
- cream cheese frosting
Instructions
- Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round cake pans.
- Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.
- Whisk together eggs, buttermilk, coffee, oil, and vanilla. Add to the dry ingredients; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes (batter will be thin). Pour batter evenly into prepared pans.
- Bake 30 to 35 minutes, or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean.
- Cool for 10 minutes; remove from pans to wire racks. Cool completely.
- Frost as desired.
Cup of Yum
Notes
- Adjust baking time if using different pans: 35-40 minutes for 13x9-inch or 50-55 minutes for 12-cup bundt pans.
- Because the cake is very moist, apply a crumb coat or freeze layers before frosting for cleaner assembly.
- Store leftover cake covered at room temperature for up to three days to maintain freshness.